Zev Porat

Thursday, August 29, 2013

VIAL #3 ALERT: Fracking fluid linked to fish die-off

Third Bowl: The Waters Turn to Blood

Rev 16:4 Then the third angel poured out his bowl on the rivers and springs of water, and they became blood.

Fracking fluid linked to fish die-off

A new government study found that a 2007 fracking fluid spill in Kentucky killed off several species of fish, including two that were classified as "threatened." Some of the surviving fish developed gill lesions, liver damage and spleen damage.

"Our study is a precautionary tale of how entire populations could be put at risk even with small-scale [fracking] fluid spills," lead author Diana Papoulias wrote in a news release.

The study, which was conducted by the US Geological Survey and the US Fish and Wildlife Service, studied water samples and the bodies of the exposed fish to determine the effects of fracking chemicals on their health.

The study was based on a fracking fluid spill that occurred at the Acorn Fork Creek in southeastern Kentucky in the mid-2007. Nami Resources Company, an oil and gas exploration company, spilled the fluids into the creek, which killed nearly all aquatic life in direct exposure to the substances.

Narrow stream flows were contaminated with hydrochloric acid and other chemicals used for fracking. Water supplies were polluted and numerous species of fish suffered "a significant die-off," the USGS announced on Wednesday. The fluids killed significant numbers of Blackside dace, a threatened species of ray-finned fish endemic to Kentucky, Tennessee and Virginia. The Creek chub and the Green sunfish also experienced a die-off.